Missouri State’s five-game winning streak came to an end Friday evening with a 71-69 overtime loss at Southern Illinois in a game that neither team led by more than five points for the full 45 minutes.
The Lady Bears (11-9, 7-2 Missouri Valley Conference) got off to a slow start but took their first lead at 20-18 on an Elle Ruffridge 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. The lead changed hands 11 times in the second period before SIU (12-8, 7-2) strung together consecutive scores to take a 34-30 lead into halftime.
MSU’s Alexa Willard scored five points in the first 36 seconds of the third quarter, and Brice Calip followed to make it a 7-0 run and 38-34 advantage.
It was a Calip pass to Willard for a layup and 47-42 score with 2:48 left in the third quarter that represented Missouri State’s largest lead of the game, and the Salukis regained a one-point advantage at 51-50 with 6:49 to play in the game. Liza Fruendt countered 11 seconds later with the first of two big fourth-quarter treys, the second of which made it 60-56 with 3:01 to play.
The Salukis responded with a 6-0 run before Fruendt banked in the tying shot with 18 seconds left and an Aubrey Buckley block secured a trip to overtime.
In the extra period, Fruendt gave MSU the initial lead with a pair of free throws, but the Lady Bears did not hit a field goal until 2.7 seconds remained. The Salukis, which shot 50 percent from the foul line in the game, made 5-of-6 from the stripe in the final 90 seconds, though MSU still had a chance after Calip’s score for 71-69 with 2.7 left. The Lady Bears grabbed a steal on the ensuing SIU inbounds pass, but Fruendt’s last-second 3-point attempt was off the mark.
Fruendt scored 19 for MSU to move to 11th on the school’s career scoring list, and Buckley earned her third career double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. Willard scored 15 and Calip finished with 10 points, nine boards and four assists.
MSU shot 30.6 percent compared to .460 for the Salukis and trailed 52-41 on the glass, but grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and forced 19 SIU turnovers.
MSU opens round two of MVC play next Friday at 7 p.m. at UNI (8-10, 4-3).
